Army chaplain who died in a POW camp after refusing to abandon wounded soldiers during the Korean Wa
April5,2013
President Barack Obama will award a posthumous Medal of Honor to a Korean War Army chaplain credited with ministering and providing medical assistance to fellow soldiers under heavy fire during combat operations at Unsan, Korea.
The award ceremony for Capt. Emil J. Kapaun is scheduled for April 11. Members of Kapaun's family will attend.
The White House says Kapaun, a Roman Catholic priest from Kansas, exhibited 'extraordinary heroism' while serving with the 3d Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division during a battle with communist forces in 1950.
Kapaun stayed behind to help the wounded even though he knew he would be captured.
Kapaun died at the prisoner of war camp hospital seven months after he was captured by the Chinese in 1950.
Besides the Medal of Honor, Kapaun was named a 'Servant of God' by the Vatican in 1993 and is currently a candidate for sainthood.